Haunting Melodies
by Mi Ling Chi
Summary: Sesshomaru had always been able to see spirits and anything on the supernatural spectrum. Throughout the years, it had brought him more than one near-death experience. Now he has a budding family on his hands, a flighty ghost with a horrible past, and someone literally stealing his time.
1. A House out of Horror Movie

**A House out of a Horror Movie**

_The_ grass was overgrown; the tree in the front yard dead and black, and the for-sale sign with the sold sticker slapped across it was still up. The wood was dark but the inspector had said not to worry, it just came from a tree of darker colour instead of it rotting.

On the curb stood a man of 5'10", staring at his house with disgust. His wife had begged and begged him to get it, and because it was actually the nicest one they'd seen within their budget, he given in. He still secretly looked at houses on the market but he knew that they were staying. Sara always got her way.

He looked at his wife then. She stared at the house, her eyes shining with fascination. She was so excited yet for some reason, he dreaded the thought of sleeping in the house. His new home looked like it was straight out of a horror film after all. His unease was probably excusable because of that fact. Shaking his head, Sesshomaru unlocked the gate and started up the stone path. He heard the sound of the car door opening, a small grunt coming from Kohanu and then the pounding of feet on concrete. His three children rushed by them, the two older ones going around him and his six-year-old son Mokosu barrelling into him.

"Say you're sorry!" Sara called after her children in a jovial manner. She rushed around him, arms outstretched to catch the little rug rats. He let a small smile slide onto his face before it disappeared again at the sound of crying.

Oh the joys of child rearing.

He shook his head as he broke out into a small jog to get to the crying child. In his pocket, the new keys jingled. The sound came from the dining room, the one that wasn't meant for company but family dinners. He went there first and found his second oldest, Miku, holding her knee, tears sliding down her cheeks. Sara had her arms wrapped around the girl, shushing her and telling her she'd get better. Sesshomaru raised a black eyebrow, a sharp contrast to his hair, and she explained.

"Miku tripped and skinned her knee." The girl let out a heart-wrenching sob and Sara immediately went back to shushing the girl. She rocked back and forth, quietly humming a song he'd never heard to the girl. As the girl quieted, Sara asked Sesshomaru to take the boys out back. He nodded quickly and ushered the hyperactive children to the large backyard.

The boys pretended to be characters from Star Wars, mimicking the scenes of the movie they'd seen so many times. Sesshomaru sighed, sitting down on the top stair of the deck, his back against one of railing posts. He took in the messy yard. A burn pile toward the back corner, pipes scattered about, a yellow bouncy ball next to a rusted shovel, an old, hazardous-looking swing swaying slightly in the breeze. Yes, very horror-movie reminiscent. It made sense, Sara loved horror movies and so did the kids. He didn't approve of the children watching them but Sara begged and he let them watch all the damn Chucky they wanted while he worked away in his office or watched the chick flicks only Sara knew he watched.

He sighed, eyes trained on the little boys. He and Sara weren't your typical married couple. Not only did they break the 2.5 standard in children by having three children so far, another one (hopefully) on the way and one stillborn, they also weren't in love. That's right, there was no romantic spark to their relationship. They were the best of friends and had been ever since third grade but that was it. Never once had romantic feelings developed for either of them towards the other. Sara preferred woman to men but because of her parent's strict rules and homophobia, they forced her to have secret lovers. Their marriage was an open one and both could have partners outside of it.

Sesshomaru's reason on the other hand for not marrying a woman he loved was that he was still hung up on a childhood crush. Izayoi, his dead stepmother. The reason for him never having Izayoi was obvious, she was married to his father, in love with his father, and well, residing six-feet deep currently.

Another reason Sesshomaru was married to Sara was that he didn't trust many people. Almost everyone in his life save for Izayoi and Sara betrayed him. The dead were easier to trust than the living. He could say that with certainty, and Sara knew it. Izayoi always knew that there was something he could see that others couldn't but she'd never known it had been ghosts, not until after she died that is. She found out when he sat in the bathroom, fighting back tears and began to speak with her spirit.

"Dinner's ready!" Sara called from the kitchen. He looked up, noticing the pink sky and wondered where the time had gone. Had he really spaced out that long? He shook his head, perturbed by it, and stood. The boys had dropped the light-sabres they must've dug out of the moving boxes and rushed inside, ready to eat whatever their mother had cooked up. He smelled sloppy-joes and steamed vegetables with lemon juice. Warm, freshly baked bread lay on the table, cut into uneven slices. How long had he been out? He took a peak at the sky once more before sitting down to the dinner table.

They ate, the kids excitedly talking about things that interested them. Sara got involved in some of their conversation, talking about what she thought of a certain scene in Star Wars or a certain horror movie. Sara valued critical thinking and always attempted to have the kids think in this manner. Sesshomaru didn't mind it but at times, when Sara attempted her tricks on him, he told her to back off.

She would glance at him throughout dinner, as if she were asking him to explain what had him so wrapped up in his head. He was certain that she would ask him later since he was denying answering her silent questions now.

After dinner, Sara and the kids settled down to watch a horror movie and he took some wine out on the patio.

He was a very alert person so time slipping by him so quickly unnerved him. It had happened to him before and not because he was wrapped up in his thoughts. A dying woman had attempted to steal his time away so she could live longer. Though she failed, he remembered that time vividly. It had been fourth grade and the dying woman had been their teacher. He almost flunked the fourth grade because of how much time the lady had stolen from him. She had almost killed him even. Sesshomaru from that point on was wary of missing time.

Sighing, he tipped the glass back, not realizing that Sara had crept up behind him.

"Hey Sess, what's wrong?"

It had happened again. He had been thinking but he'd had an eye trained on his watch the entire time. He blinked and it went from 7:03pm to 3:48am. Something was stealing his time.

"Remember Lady Kikyou?"

"Yeah, she was our fourth grade teacher and my long, looong lost ancestor. She stole your time right?"

"It's happening again."

Sara sighed, resting her head against his arm. "Are the kids in danger?"

"I don't know."

"You know, why does this always happen to you? Why are you cursed with this ghost radar or whatever?"

He stayed silent, replaying the words Izayoi had once said to him in his head.

"I'm more sensitive to the otherworld."

Sara shook her head, grabbing the wine glass he held and pouring it down her throat. They stayed there, refilling the single glass with a bottle of wine until it was empty. Afterwards, they were laid sprawled out in the yard, watching the stars. Sara knew Izayoi used to do this with him when he was upset and although she didn't know about her husband's forbidden feelings towards his stepmother, she knew that it did something good for Sesshomaru. At one point Sara fell asleep, unaware that her husband had long since skipped through time and into the dawn hour.

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AN: I know Rin hasn't shown up yet, you'll have to wait for tomorrow. :) At least I'm actually going to upload the second chapter tomorrow. If you were disturbed by the Izayoi portion, please read the next chapter for more of an explanation and please note that this story is about Sesshomaru and Rin, and there will be a romance between them. Note that the marriage between Sesshomaru and Sara is an open one, and both can have extra relationships.


	2. Dawn's Light Doesn't Guide the Way

**Dawn's Light Doesn't Guide the Way**

_It _had been dark one second and dawn the next. The sun was only partly over the horizon, the sky pinkish in its colour. Again? Any doubts he might've had before about someone stealing his time was gone. The amount of time he'd lost so far was ridiculous, more than Kikyou had stolen in such a short amount of time.

Sighing, he saw that Sara had fallen asleep at some point. Sara was always so peaceful looking asleep, not that she wasn't peaceful when she was awake, it was just that Sara looked as if there was nothing wrong in the world. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before taking her to the master bedroom. He laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket. She moaned, placing her arm over her face before snoring. He sighed, she was still asleep. He moved towards the door, only to stop when he heard a faint sound.

It sounded delicate, like a wind chime. It was beautiful yet haunting. He looked around, taking in the sights for any type of ghost. Slowly he made his way to the window, shoving a small moving box out of his way. His shoed feet made small taps on the floor. His hands rested on the windowsill as he observed the yard. It was extremely large, a forest attached to the back. Their new house was on twenty-seven acres of land.

It was faint but he could tell the sound came from the forest. He watched the trees, trying to pick out who was singing. Something faint watched him from a tree, half-hiding behind it. It only took Sesshomaru a few seconds to realize that the girl was naked. He didn't look away though, most ghosts were naked. Even Izayoi had been naked, much to his seventeen-year-old chagrin. That's right, the women he loved had been naked before him yet he was embarrassed beyond all hell.

The girl watched him, singing loudly to him, her brown eyes studying him intently. His grip on the windowsill tightened. If hadn't been for the fact that he was on third story, he would've jumped out. However, he had a family and a wife, he couldn't risk dying or becoming incapable of helping. Though he knew Sara was quite capable, she wasn't capable of everything and she certainly couldn't protect them from everything supernatural.

He let go of the windowsill, breaking out into a run, running down the hall, down the stairs until he reached the first floor, and bolting out into the yard. This was his chance to possibly catch the one person who was taking his valuable time away from him.

He was in the yard, panting slightly, watching the spirit watch him. Then she bolted. Damn it, he thought, what the hell is wrong with her? He chased after her, calling out to her to stop. She wouldn't though and after a while, he was lost with no sight of her. The last of dawn's light filtered through the trees, highlighting the sticks and stones on the ground. Evidently, dawns light really didn't help. Sighing, he turned around, trying to find his way through the trees. He'd have to wake the kids soon and take them to school if Sara hadn't already.

Sesshomaru was exhausted by now. He'd been up a long time, running around and what not and yet since the time he woke up yesterday in his old house at seven in the morning, to now, dawn in his new house, never once had he slept. Yeah, time had been slipping for him but that didn't mean he didn't get tired. He was easily tired as it is, seeing ghosts and all put a strain on him. He probably wouldn't live past fifty-five as it was, and there was only so much time a person could steal before the stole all you had left. Sesshomaru had come to terms with the fact he wasn't going to live as long as Sara or most other people in his family. His little brother would definitely out live him, and his kids for sure.

Sighing glanced at his watch, noting the time had went from 5:49 to 11:14. Yup, something had taken his time again. Well, probably, he thought, I'm so lost it could be possible that this time, it's my own damn fault. Sighing, he plopped himself down on a fallen tree, hanging his head in his hands.

Maybe he'd always known that this house was haunted and that's why he'd been so against getting it. Maybe he'd known that bad things were going to happen, it hadn't been the first time he known something bad was going to happen. He'd felt that Izayoi and his father weren't going to come home that evening. That was why the goodbye he said to them that day, something he rarely did, felt so final. He'd known they weren't coming back, no matter how sad it was or how much he didn't want it, he'd known that they were going to die. Now, he didn't know that they'd get into a car crash, but he had known that they were going to die.

A lot of people could say, and many had, that he was haunted man and they would be right either way. He was literally haunted by ghosts, and mentally, he was very haunted by the ones that had died in his lifetime that he had loved. Him and his father never had a great relationship, but it still made his childhood self cry. Izayoi, of course he cried for her. He'd loved her. Yeah, many people would find that gross or disgusting but and it was to some degree, but it had been the truth. Sara reminded him greatly of Izayoi, strong and able. Both had the hime-style of hair. Both had brown eyes. Yeah, he'd selfishly told Sara that he would marry her because she reminded him so greatly of Izayoi. Somehow, he'd never managed to fall for Sara like he had for Izayoi so long ago. He'd thought at first, it was because he could only love Izayoi but that wasn't it. It was because he didn't love Izayoi anymore, and because it even hurt at times to think about her and his childhood foolishness.

Yeah, he wasn't in love with Izayoi, and as a child, it was only because she was pretty and forbidden from him. She had died when he was going into the ninth grade, and he'd only started 'loving' her when he was in the sixth. It hadn't lasted very long, and there had been no spark whatsoever between him and her ghost. Of course as a ghost she was even more forbidden yet she wasn't either. He could have a romance with her, not sexually of course, and no one in the real world would know and somehow, no matter how forbidden she had become then, that little fact completely ruined it for him.

Sighing, he stood up and broke out into a light jog. Just keep going straight he thought, yet he didn't emerge in his yard, he emerged in a graveyard, just a few meters away from a girl that looked strikingly similar to the ghost he'd been chasing earlier.

"Sir, is everything okay?" she asked.

"No, it's not."

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Next chapter should be up tomorrow or the day after. Please review.


	3. Wait, I Thought you were a Ghost?

**Wait, I Thought you were a Ghost?**

_"What's _wrong?" she asked, hurriedly rising to her feet and rushing over to him. She placed an arm around him, her other hand holding his arm. She's not very strong, was Sesshomaru's first thought. Which she wasn't. The girl looked more fragile than a bird, a baby one at that. She was so small and petite, it looked like she'd hardly eaten. Him saying that there was something wrong with him was an insult to this girl who was obviously facing harder times as it was.

He had been going to accuse her of being a ghost, the one that was stealing his time actually, but now, looking at her and physically feeling her against him made him stop. Sesshomaru came off cold to a lot of people, especially strangers. He was the ice prince as his brother had so loving dubbed him in the seventh grade. However, he couldn't do that anymore. He couldn't accuse such a gentle, and living being, of being some big bad spirit with malicious intentions. That was why what slipped out of his mouth was that he was lost instead of a blame.

"Oh," she said in a calmer voice. "I thought you were hurt or something. That's better though. You know," she said while unwrapping her arm from around him, "If you need someone to lead you home, I'd be perfectly willing to do so. I've lived here a while now with my husband so I know the neighbourhood well. Ooh! The first of my ancestors in America actually lived in this very neighbourhood. You know the Higurashi mansion don't you?"

"Actually, I live there now."

She opened her mouth to reply, only to stop when an awful cough racked her body and sent her doubling over. She shakily reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She brought it up to her mouth and coughed into it. Pulling it away revealed blood.

"My god," he gasped uncharacteristically. "You need to get to a hospital now. Look," he said hurriedly as he picked her up, "Tell me how to get to where you live. I'll find my way home on my own. "

She looked ready to argue with him but stopped when she realized it would be futile. "Go out that gate and you should be on Hollowbrook, follow until you reach Swisledin and it should be three houses up on the left side of the street. The house'll be blue."

He followed her directions, jogging to make sure that he got her there quickly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head into his chest. She was worrisomely pale and he was afraid that she might keel over any second now. He had to get her to a hospital or at least someone who could deal with things like this.

He came up on where her directions had taken him. A much older man with a beer-belly, a receding grey hairline and green eyes waited on the porch. As soon as her saw them, his eyes softened and he rushed down to meet Sesshomaru. So this is her husband, he thought with distaste, I wouldn't be surprised if he abused her. Sesshomaru handed her over to the man, unconsciously scowling. The man whispered the word hush and then the name Eileen into her hair.

The man sat her down on the couch and then sped into what Sesshomaru assumed to be the kitchen. Sesshomaru followed and found the man filling a cup of water.

"The first time this happened, I took her to the hospital and they said that there was nothing they could do for her. They told me to make sure she rested and didn't strain herself and to make sure she drank lots of water. Eileen is so very fragile and they told me that she wouldn't live past thirty. Every time this happens," he stopped, sighing greatly and then continuing, "Is just one more year gone. I don't want to lose her, I'd do anything to save her."

The man walked back into the living room to care for Eileen, leaving a shocked Sesshomaru in the kitchen. Anything, he thought bitterly, even steal a person's time and give it to your wife? He shook his head. You're being an idiot, these two are too kind and too human to try anything of the sort, he thought. It was probably that ghost he'd been chasing through the woods today. Yeah, that made sense. Good thing he'd chased it too, or else no one would've found Eileen until it was possibly too late.

He walked back into the living room just as Eileen's husband placed the water glass on the table. Eileen was asleep in his lap, her black hair spread everywhere. He was actually glad he couldn't see her dull brown eyes, they had looked so sad.

"Thanks for bringing her here. I'm Theodore by the way, I hope that she wasn't too big a hassle for you." The last part was said bitterly and jokingly. "I'm glad you were there." He could tell that Theodore was dismissing him now, and never one to over stay their welcome, Sesshomaru said goodbye and left. He sighed. This was quite a bit to think about.

As he walked home, he could sense some sort of ghostly thing lurking about. He ignored it though, hoping that it would get the hint that he wasn't interested. Even if it was the ghost stealing his time, he didn't want to deal with it. He let is continue to exist one more day because it had led him to Eileen and in turn, allowed him to save her life.

Evidently though, this ghost didn't get the message that it was dismissed because it continued to trail behind him. He stopped, glancing behind him. It wasn't the ghost from earlier but it still resembled the ghost from earlier and Eileen. Perhaps these ghosts he kept running into were Eileen's ancestors.

"What do you want?" he asked sullenly. The ghost just pointed back in the direction of Eileen's and Theodore's and shook his head. "Is that a warning?"

He'd learned long ago that Ghosts weren't real big talkers and typically would just shake their head at something to warn you. It was irritating but it actually helped a lot. Izayoi did it to him before and managed to save him from being electrocuted by a very angry apparition he dubbed Naraku because of the way he laughed.

"Eileen and Theodore are good people," he said calmly, "You, on the other hand, are a ghost I know nothing about."

Sometimes, you just couldn't trust the dead.

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AN: Not my favourite chapter, I feel it's a bit rushed. It may seem unimportant but this is actually a very important chapter. The next chapter will be out sometime in the next 3 days. 'Til then, thanks for reading, please review, and goodnight.


	4. Your Guardian Angel is a Ghost

Your Guardian Angel is a Ghost

_Every_ night it was this way. The ghost he'd chased through the woods, the one that looked like Eileen, always sang her haunting melodies, keeping him up at night. This was the third night in row where he was down in his office, eyes blood-shot, a single lamp turned on and dimly lighting the room. He sat behind his computer, typing in Higurashi and Higurashi mansion into Google.

Evidently, the Higurashi family originated in Japan, with living descendants still around and maintaining the Sunset shrine. Their family lineage could be traced back to the Sengoku era with a Sango Higurashi, a hime of demon-slayer clan, and a monk bereft of a last name until marrying Sango. Sometime in the 1800s, particularly around the 1890s, the first Higurashi left Japan and came to America. The man was Yabu Higurashi and probably the ghost that had tried to warn him about Theodore and Eileen a few weeks prior. He had been murdered in 1901 under mysterious circumstances. The criminal, of course, had never been found. His daughter, Rin Higurashi, disappeared into the woods behind their house for a month or so before reappearing again, this time married to Teddy Heartback.

It was rumoured that she and Teddy had been in love for a long time and the Yabu had never approved of their relationship. Teddy supposedly hired a man to kill Yabu on Rin's orders. They disappeared to elope.

Somehow, Sesshomaru knew this was not correct. No doubt about it, Rin was forced into her relationship with Teddy Heartback. He could no longer say that Eileen and Theodore weren't possibly behind his stolen time. However, what didn't make sense is the fact that Eileen loved Theodore. One could simply write off as Stockholm but Sesshomaru wasn't going to take the easy way out. And anyways, if Theo or Teddy or whoever had managed to keep them young and alive for so long, who wasn't to say that Eileen and Rin were the same person. The supernatural could do a whole lot of body-swapping and cloning.

He did research into the Heartbacks as well. Teddy Heartback had a wife before Rin as well and not so surprisingly her name was Ediline. No, it wasn't Eileen but by god it wasn't completely out of the ball-park. Ediline and Eileen both had similar sounds and could easily be used to still keep some reminiscent of their previous name.

Sighing, he ran his hands threw his hair, listening to Rin's song as it echoed through his house. He didn't know if Rin remained in the woods or if she actually came into his house. If she did, she sure as hell didn't show herself to him. Understandable, he had chased her through the woods and basically told her father that he didn't believe either of them even though he'd now done research on Theodore and Eileen.

That wasn't to say though that his conclusion was completely right. Eileen and Theodore could just be coincidences, it happened. However, now with a little research on his side and his lack of belief in coincidences, he believed otherwise. Still, Eileen had been so sweet and Theodore had actually been a nice man who was concerned for his wife. Who was to say that even if Eileen and Theodore were Teddy and his ex-wife, that Rin deserved her body back. He learned the hard way that sometimes, no matter how right it might sound, you don't always give a ghost its body back. Sometimes they didn't deserve to live in the first place. If you were given the option, would you give a murderer, a psychopath, a rapist, or any other type of person that did immoral things their body back? He wouldn't.

He stood, pushed in his chair and turned off the light. Maybe he could get some sleep now. It would be great if he could. As he climbed the stairs, he thought about the kids and stopped on the second floor to see how they were doing. All of them were asleep, completely unfazed by the singing. That was probably because he was the only one that could hear it. Luckily for them, they hadn't inherited his supernatural abilities002E

He hated that fact. It was a pain in the ass to be the only one to see the supernatural side of life. Ghosts, when they knew he could see them, made themselves to be the bane of his existence. The constantly pestered him, trying to get him to 'guide' them to the other side. Izayoi had told him that he couldn't, that only they could guide themselves to the afterlife.

He pushed open the door, a large sigh escaping through his lips. He stopped immediately, dead in his tracks as he saw Rin's ghost perched on the side of his and Sara's bed. She was singing very softly, eyes yearningly watching Sara. Her yearning was sad and momentarily pained him. Many ghosts managed to pull at the heartstrings he had tried to cut long ago. Her knew he should tell the ghost to scram but for just a moment, he wanted to allow her the happiness.

Her large brown eyes met his, a question in them. Her singing stopped and he could see tears on her cheeks. Surprisingly, ghosts could cry though it wasn't in the same way that humans did. There was no actual water, it was all an illusion.

"I'll go." She began to get off the bed.

He realized the chance he'd been given and took advantage of it. "Come with me," he whispered, not wanting to wake his wife. She followed him back down to his office, floating behind him.

She float a few inches above the ground, her eyes darting around his office and one hand gripped around her other elbow. She was awkward and nervous. She probably always felt this way if what he had assumed was right.

"Are you Rin Higurashi?"

"Yes." Her voice had an accent that sounded like a mix between a Japanese one and southern drawl. Her voice was quite too, just like many other ghosts. At least she said something, others would have nodded.

"Are you dead?"

"Not exactly."

"Explain."

And she did. The urgency she explained it with was surprising, like she had been so desperate to share her story, to have someone hear her pains. The pains of over a hundred years. No, she hadn't gone to elope with Theodore, she hated the man. Even before he had murdered her father, she'd always found him creepy. He'd watch her with sick pleasure, and speak to her like a wolf would to its prey. Eileen was his dead wife's ghost inhabiting her body. Basically what she told were the things he'd already guessed. Theodore had found her body attractive and he knew how to get his wife back.

"So why is she so ill?"

"She was ill when she was alive the first time and would've died long ago if it hadn't been for Theodore stealing people's lives."

Stealing time.

He leaned back in his chair, a million thoughts racing in his head. Teddy and Eileen weren't innocent. But how had they been so kind? Was it Kikyou all over? He had been so lost in thought that he had almost missed what Rin said next.

"I know how to stop them but I can't do it myself. If you help me, they'll be easy to take down."


End file.
